Fullmetal Witness
by FrozenAlchemist
Summary: When Truth calls upon the Fullmetal Alchemist in need of assistance, Edward Elric is not happy. Forced into the gates Edward is put into Washington DC to deal with Truth's 'dirty work.'
1. Beginnings

There was nothing but white. The blond alchemist took a minute to adjust to his new, but familiar, surrounding. Then as he turned he saw the large, grey, door with intricate designs. The alchemist sighed,

"You've got to be kidding me! This has got to be a dream."

"But it's not al~chem~ist!"

Edward turned to see Truth, sitting cross legged behind him. The only defining thing about the figure was the thin, etched, black lining. Oh, and he had leg. Edward's leg.

"Truth you bastard, what do ya want now?" Edward Elric was much more than annoyed. He was pissed. What on earth would the bastard Truth want with him now?

The figure grinned, "I can give your alchemy back, Mr. Al~chem~ist."

"I don't need it back, you can keep it."

Truth's grin faltered but immediately returned, "Well, Al~chem~ist I'm giving it to you but I'll take your arm back. Hmm… that leaves us a problem! We can't have a one armed al~chem~ist, can we? I'll give you your automail back. That should do the trick!"

"I don't want it back!" Yelled the blond, "Like I said, you can keep it!"

Truth's grin widened, "Well, you see Mr. Al~chem~ist, another little pet of mine seemed to escape. I need you to put him down. He seems to have lost control. I'll be sending you through the gate again. You'll need your alchemy to put him to rest."

"I. Don't. Want. This" said an angry Elric, "Why can't you do it? Why make me do your dirty work?"

"It's not necessarily dirty work, more of, watching my favorite pet again."

With that a wave of tiny black hands was birthed from the gate. Edward felt the multiple grips and fingers tearing at his skin and clothes. His limbs flailed and he struggled, he didn't want to repeat this mess.

"Bastard Truth! You'll regret this!" Ed yelled as he was pulled through the gate. As the gates closed Ed's eyes were locked in a cold glare to the sitting, grinning, being. _Just wait, I'll be back_.

…

"Petty officer Daniel Noric. Stab wound straight through the heart, no weapon at the scene," recited Tony DiNozzo.

"What is this? Third one this week?" Timothy McGee asked.

"It is officially a serial killer," said the Israeli agent, Ziva David.

DiNozzo compared the information of this killing to the other two of the week. All victims male, all victims died of a stab wound straight to the heart. This guy must have a sense for anatomy, each victim with no chance of survival after being stabbed.

"Well this is certainly interesting," said the medical examiner, Ducky, "Same strange shaping of the wound. It cuts through the back, but only appears as a small prick of a needle. The knife must have a needle like point and expand from there. What is truly interesting is that such a fine point would never be able to forcefully enter the body like this."

"Same as the other vics?" Asked McGee to confirm the obvious suspicion.

"Correct. You know, this reminds me of a certain case I had in Germany-"

"Alright Duck," said a grey haired, blue eyed man named Gibbs, he continued on, "DiNozzo, photograph the scene."

"Yes, boss," DiNozzo photographed the body and the surrounding alley way. This wasn't a particularly engaging act but it had to be done.

While DiNozzo photographed and McGee talked to the civilian who found the body, Ziva looked around the scene. She ventured further down the alley way, scouring the area for any evidence. The Israeli agent stopped as a she saw a sudden flash of red at the end of the alley. It looked like someone was running, in a bright red coat.

Ziva David sprinted down the alley and turned where she had seen the man run, "Stop! NCIS!" She yelled as she took out her gun and ran after him.

Edward looked behind him, damn it. _What the heck was NCIS?_ He kept running until he heard the shot of a gun. The woman had fired. _She had tried to shoot me! _Edward was about to clap his hands together until he saw two men arrive.

_This won't end well,_ he sighed and put his hands in the air, "I surrender," _for now,_ he added silently.


	2. A Bolt

When Edward Elric first arrived in this world he didn't know what to think. Mainly because he couldn't see. At first he panicked, _did that bastard Truth take my damn eyes?! _As he settled down and tried to regroup his scattered thoughts the Fullmetal Alchemist felt something on his automail. It felt like someone's fingers were messing with the joints. _Get offa me! That isn't yours to screw around with! Oh god, Winry is going to kill me._ The alchemist had meant to shout this but nothing came out. He meant to move his arm away from whatever or whoever was messing with it but nothing happened. The Fullmetal Alchemist had fainted at some part along the way.

The god awful thing about fainting, in which the Fullmetal Alchemist knew a little about, was that you can be one hundred percent aware of everything going on around you, yet you are unable to do anything about it. Edward knew everything that he could hear, feel, and smell, but his fainting spell had landed him unable to move or see for the time being.

All this was quick though and Edward finally opened his eyes, "About god damn time," he said bolting up to a standing position. He noticed he was in some backstreet or alley way and a man dressed in rags was sitting beside him. The man in rags look shocked and scampered away, carrying a bolt of automail but Edward hadn't noticed that part.

"Where the hell am I?" He cursed aloud as he started to wander down the alley.

Feeling the sense of urgency Edward broke into a run, hoping to find some way out of the winding back street.

Then Edward heard someone speak in English, "Stop! NCIS!"

Edward kept running mainly to spite the English speaking woman; well he assumed the one who spoke was a woman. He also didn't understand the term NCIS and for all he knew it could be some gang or weird organization.

When he heard the gun go off was when he finally stopped running.

_This won't end well_, he sighed and put his hands in the air, "I surrender," _for now_, he added silently.

…

Suddenly there was more than just that one crazy woman, there were now three men added to the mix. From what Edward could see they all looked to be military.

"NCIS, stay where you are," said the taller, brown haired agent.

"Where the hell else would I go?" Ed muttered in Amestrian, at least these guys might be able to help him. Suddenly he felt is automail arm give and fall to his side. Edward hadn't realized that the homeless man had taken off with a very important bolt.

"Well, shit. Now Winry is definitely going to kill me!" Edward didn't realize he was still speaking in Amestrian. He forced held his automail arm in the air and gave the team an awkward, forced, smile.

If all of the agent's guns weren't pointed at him before they were now.

"What did he say?" Tony asked, never hearing Amestrian before.

"I do not know, Tony. It sounded a bit like German but I am not sure," replied the Israeli agent.

Edward looked like he was about to run, he felt like he should. He only needed the perfect opportunity. Though he did feel like these military like people could help.

"Cuff him," said the grey haired, blue eyed agent who seemed to be in charge.

"Yes boss," replied McGee taking out his handcuffs.

Edward put down his arms and held them behind his back, ready for the cuffs to be put on. As he heard the small _click_ of the lock he formulated a plan.

"Do you speak English?" Said the shorter, brown haired agent who had put the cuffs on.

Edward scowled, "Yeah, but it's a crappy language to speak," at this Ziva David held back a chuckle and the other agents looked slightly startled, well except for the stoic boss.

With his automail now busted Edward had to work around it. He could still move his hand and fingers, just not the elbow joint. He clapped his hands together and hoped his alchemy worked.

A small blue light came from behind the strange kid with golden hair and golden eyes. Edward transmuted the handcuffs off into a lump of metal and burst into a run. The agents stood in shock for a moment but were easily snapped out.

"Why do they always run?" Sighed Tony.

Edward turned down the first alley way, happy that alchemy worked in this world. As he continued to run, this in fact was not very far, his body started to wear down considerably. He heard the shouts of the female agent again, along with one of the men. _Why couldn't they just leave me alone?_

Ed heard shots ring out through the alley way. _Well shit, why does it have to be bullets?_ He felt an impact on his automail leg, nothing to do much damage though. _Winry is so going to kill me._

Edward's body started to slow down even more so and his automail seemed heavier than it should. He was sweating more that he normally should and nausea rolled over. Suddenly his body dropped to the ground as his legs could no longer handle his weight. _Alchemy works, but damn, it takes way more out of me than it should, _the alchemist thought as he fully lost himself to the darkness.

…

Ziva David and Tony DiNozzo ran up to the fallen boy. His hair was golden, not natural at all.

_He's only a kid,_ DiNozzo noted to himself.

"I know I hit him," said Ziva, looking around the fallen body for blood.

"He doesn't look injured Ziva, well besides the fact he suddenly collapsed for no reason. You probably hit a wall; we can't all have a _James Bond _shooting accuracy."

"A _James _what?"

"Never mind," replied DiNozzo as he put the cuffs on the kid. As DiNozzo did so he noticed the kid's right arm felted harder and heavier than a normal, flesh, arm would. Thinking it was just his imagination or the adrenaline, Tony shook any thoughts about it away.


	3. Strange

The Fullmetal Alchemist thought he would be waking up in some unknown military base, but when he woke he saw the toothy grin of a certain bastard.

"Really? This again? What do you want now?" Edward was annoyed but he knew nothing terrible would happen here, why would that bastard Truth send him to some grey hell hole in who knows where just to take him back after little to nothing happens. Well being shot at isn't exactly nothing, but whatever Truth wanted him to do, Ed was pretty sure he hadn't done it. Truth always seemed to be grinning but it wasn't as wide as usual. Whatever it was that Truth was having Edward do seemed serious.

"Little Al~chem~ist! Your mind seems muddled? And your alchemy rusty and exhausting?"

"Huh, I don't know. Waking up in a whole other freaking world seems to have an impact, just a little bit," he said through gritted teeth, annoyance heavy in his tone.

"It shouldn't be a problem for the Fullmetal Al~chem~ist?"

That's when Edward lost any composure he had left, "You know what? I'm done with this shit! You take me away from my home, Winry, and Al. Why the hell am I doing your dirty work?! You're giving me back something I don't need! Then you take away my freaking arm! Thanks to that the automail is broken now!" Edward was furious. This bastard didn't understand a thing. It wasn't human, so what did Edward expect? It wasn't human, Ed knew he shouldn't act like this _thing_ would understand anything.

"What the hell even is this 'dirty work'? Hell if I die in this world-"

Truth interjected, obviously done with the small boy's rant, "And here I was to help you? All you do is complain little al~chem~ist."

"I AM NOT LITTLE-"

That's when Truth's grin widened even more so, obviously finding joy in Edward's reaction, "Oh but al~chem~ist, take a look when you wake," Truth's echoing voice was hinted with joy. Even though the being was slightly concerned with the situation in that other world he still found joy within toying with the Fullmetal Alchemist who committed the greatest sin.

"What hell are you talking about?" Ed asked both as the 'little' statement and the part where Truth thought that _it_ was_ helping._

Truth didn't waver, "I'll tell you this once little al~chem~ist, the wear of alchemy in that world is greater than the one you faced in your world, but is not as bad as you think," Truth sniggered before continuing, finding amusement in the great Fullmetal's weakness, "You fainted again only because of exhaustion," Truth made a faint _tsk _noise and continued, "Traveling through the gate physically exhausts one mentally and physically so be careful al~chem~ist." Truth made no other comments about his 'little' statement.

"Why the hell would you call me here to tell me that?! I could figure that out on my own at some point! And wouldn't this little visit exhaust me more?!"

A fake pouting tone accented Truth's voice, "I just wanted to see my favorite little al~chem~ist pet!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING LITTLE YOU BASTARD!"

Their conversation ended as Edward was pulled back through the gate. He struggled of course, trying to fight off the tiny shadowy black hands that clawed at his skin and clothes. Edward suddenly felt darkness overcome him and he succumbed to unconsciousness.

…

Dr. Mallard, or 'Ducky' as most called him, looked at the resting boy on his autopsy table. He looked young, fourteen or fifteen possibly sixteen at most. He had strange hair, a bright golden hue. Such a color was not common but there was always the possibility of hair dye.

"Jethro, this is by far one of the strangest people you have brought down to me," he said.

Jethro Gibbs just looked at his M.E. with an expression of agreement. The kid was strange not just by his looks. Whatever language he had spoken previous was unknown. It sounded like a German and some type of Asian language mix. The lucky part was that the teen at least spoke English. The next thing that was noted was that strange blue light. Where had that come from? Each member of the team noted the strange light emanating from behind the kid, but what on earth could have caused such a thing?

"Jethro, I'm honored you trusted me with this lad but you should have taken him to a hospital and got him treated. If he doesn't wake soon I would suggest so."

The kid groaned almost on queue. His eyes fluttered open revealing beautiful golden irises. The M.E. let out a short gasp as he saw the gold. That was most definitely not a normal color. Regaining the slight loss of composure Dr. Mallard thought it over. The lad must be wearing colored contacts, isn't that some sort of fad these days? The golden hair Ducky could believe natural, just extremely rare but not the eyes.

"That bastard…" Edward muttered under his breath.

"Hello lad!" said Ducky cheerily at the awakening of the strange teen, "I'm Doctor Mallard, but you can call me Ducky, everybody does. What is your name?"

Edward looked the elderly man over. Well he wasn't too old. He wore a white coat of some kind over a light blue shirt. A red bow tie was situated at his collar, Edward internally scoffed at this. As this man asked of Edward's name, Ed noted the other man on some small device. He spoke into it but the only thing Edward caught was the mention of a single name, "DiNozzo." The blond didn't know who this referred to; he just hoped it didn't refer to that crazy lady who shot at him.

Finally responding, the alchemist said, "Edward, but you can call me Ed." _Or Fullmetal, _he mentally added after. Ed still wasn't sure of these people. He knew he was in a different world and from what he could tell it didn't seem like they had alchemy. Well, he had only judged that by the agent's reactions to his escape. They had seemed shocked, frozen in awe.

"Do you have a last name Edward?"

Edward thought it over. If this world was unconnected to his then providing his last name or even his title would have no significance. Though if he gave is title, Fullmetal, it wouldn't make sense to these people. Ed saw no harm in providing a last name for the doctor, "Elric. Edward Elric."

"Alrighty Edward Elric! How are you feeling? You took quite a tumble but I haven't examined you yet. I did recommend a hospital rather than my services though," the doctor shot Gibbs a glance but the NCIS agent didn't seem to notice. Gibb's was concentrated on the teen in front of him. By this point the teen, now known as Edward Elric was sitting up rubbing his right shoulder blade but at the mention of a hospital he suddenly stopped.

"No hospitals," Edward shuddered, he didn't want to even think about a hospital or the needles that usually accompanied the destination.

"You'd rather I give you an examination?"

Edward answered immediately, "No! No, I don't feel any pain just a little groggy," Edward didn't know how these people would react to his automail. Not to mention they'd asked how he got it and it wasn't exactly something you'd walk around freely saying. Edward's shoulder was a bit sore. When he fainted he must have landed on it wrong. Where the skin met the metal there was slight pain but nothing he couldn't deal with.

Gibb's narrowed his eyes at the kid. Why refuse medical treatment in such haste? He had been rubbing his shoulder like it was in pain only a second ago but that turned into a slight grogginess? Gibb's had more questions than answers for the golden haired teen.

The autopsy room doors opened and in came Ziva David, Tony DiNozzo, and Tim McGee. The three agents found their boss.

"DiNozzo?" Asked Gibbs, annoyance laced his voice.

"Well Ziva and McGee wanted to see the kid," DiNozzo said glancing at McGee with an '_I told you so' _look.

From the autopsy table there was a loud groan, Edward was disappointed. He had to see the crazy lady again. Strangely the agent reminded him a little of Riza Hawkeye, the guns the main connection between the two.

"Who are they?" Edward asked skeptically, still not knowing who the stoic, blue eyed boss was. Not to mention any of his underlings.

The taller brown haired, brown eyed agent spoke with a smile, "Well I'm DiNozzo, that scary female agent over there is Ziva David-" Ziva shot him a look, ignoring it DiNozzo continued, "That's agent McGee for ya," finished Tony gesturing to the other male agent.

"Who's he?" Edward asked referring to Gibbs.

"Well kid, that's-"

"I'M NOT A KID!"

"Gibbs…" DiNozzo finished weakly, surprised at the kid's outburst, "Uh, well ok."

Edward examined those in the room. They called themselves NCIS and had weapons. They were most likely a government organization. _They seemed normal enough, in the sense of 'not trying to kill or kidnap me,' _Edward thought. He couldn't be sure, you can't judge a book by its cover.

"You guys military?" He finally asked.

"NCIS, Naval Criminal Investigation Service," replied the one called McGee.

"Huh, ok." So they were military cops. In a simple attempt to see if they in fact knew anything about his world, or at least his military, Ed asked, "Does Colonel Mustang or Lieutenant Hawkeye sound familiar?"

"As in the movie _Avengers_?" asked Tony, "Though I only recall a Hawkeye..."

"What?" Ziva and Ed replied in utter confusion.

"The _Avengers_? A movie, a comic book series. You know, The Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, The Black Widow, Captain America, and Hawkeye? He's the one with the bow and arrows. Think Katniss in the _Hunger Games _except male."

McGee rolled his eyes at Tony, while Ziva looked at him with confusion.

"My Hawkeye is female," Edward said flatly, not understanding most of what DiNozzo was rambling about.

DiNozzo, Ziva, and McGee had a chance to finally look over the kid. He wore a long red coat with a strange cross like symbol on the back. He wore a black, what looked to be sleeveless, shirt underneath the jacket and black pants. What was strange about his outfit was the white gloves. It wasn't winter so why keep them on? There was also what looked to be a pocket watch attached to his brown belt. The kid looked to be in his teens and apparently short for his age. What stood out the most about this kid was his hair and eyes. His golden hair was braided and his bangs parted to each side. His eyes were the same striking golden color, a very unnatural color for eyes.

Ed started to rub his shoulder again; his automail was chafing his shoulder. Of course the only time he's unable to see his mechanic is when he really needs her. Finally taking in the last of this scene in Edward began to think about what Truth had said, something about him being little. He wasn't little anymore. He was a good few inches taller than Winry now.

"Is there a mirror I can use?" The kid asked. The agents around him looked confused.

"The autopsy table you're sitting on is quite reflective, you can try that lad."

Taking the doctor's advice Edward looked down at his reflection on the metal table. The reflection was slightly warped but that wasn't the issue. Edward noticed his features, he looked young, younger. He looked like he was fourteen freaking years old.

"That bastard!"

...

**Author's Note:**

_Regarding Fullmetal Alchemist timeline this is the FMA:B series after the Promise Day._

_Also thanks for all the favorites, follows, and reviews! I didn't expect this amount of them so soon! _


	4. No Need

"Who's a bastard?"

Edward slowly looked up to the agent called DiNozzo, "None of you," This was new. Why would Truth shrink him? What did that have to do with anything? Edward was lost in enraged thoughts as the agents surrounding him gazed at the strange boy curiously.

DiNozzo turned to McGee, "Do you think he's crazy?" He asked quietly.

McGee frowned, "I don't think so, he seems lucid enough. Maybe he's just confused?"

Edward snapped out of his thoughts, not realizing his hand was unconsciously rubbing his shoulder, "You're damn right I'm confused! How would you feel if you woke up somewhere and had no idea where you were?" Edward immediately quieted. He hadn't meant to shout this, nor say it aloud. He was just angry and confused, feelings often accompanied with Truth.

"So you aren't from DC?" Asked the accented woman.

"What? DC? No, I'm from-" Ed stopped mid-sentence. Well if this truly was a different world the geographical locations were most likely different, but what was the harm of mentioning an obscure village? He had started the sentence and he needed to finish it or the agents would be even more suspicious of him. "I'm from a small town called Resembool, you probably haven't heard of it."

At this the boss was skeptic. Gibbs was thinking over the possibilities of this being the truth. The kid was secretive and made sure to carefully give information, though the previous outburst showed that the kid was subject to releasing information in rage or distraction. Gibbs noticed the routine movement of the shoulder; the kid was in some amount of pain. For his body to unconsciously act it meant there was a good amount of pain and that such pain was not unusual.

"Duck, make sure to give the kid a medical examination," said Gibbs, "Then we can talk."

"What? No! I'm _fine," _These people obviously weren't familiar with his world and the same applied with him to this world. Ed knew alchemy didn't exist here, or if it did it wasn't public knowledge. Well for that matter any government knowledge. Edward didn't want to see the reactions to his automail. Even if they weren't bad reactions, they'd want to know how he lost his limbs. Humans are naturally curious, and Ed knew that revealing his metal limbs would only ignite the agents curiosity.

"Kid, you don't look fine. You keep rubbing your shoulder."

Edward stiffened at the old boss and quickly brought both is hands to his lap, "How about you interrogate me first, then we'll see about that examination?"

"Interrogation? Why would you assume-" Ziva started, somewhat perplexed at this. The kid had some knowledge of procedure, but that kind of thing could be learned from television crime shows.

"Well you're military right? Its standard procedure right? You interrogate the witness or suspect?" Edward felt like he could stall long enough for the pain to subside like it would normally. Then any signs of pain from his features would vanish, even the minutiae ones, causing the agents to hopefully rethink the need for a medical examination.

Ziva frowned, "Yes. You must watch a lot of crime television."

It was Edwards's turn to frown, television? What the heck was that? "Television?" He questioned carefully.

"Yeah television. You know, moving pictures? TV show? Movies?" DiNozzo started drilling the kid, "How could you not know of TV? It's one of the best inventions-"

"DiNozzo."

"Sorry boss."

"This is new…" McGee muttered under his breath. Who in the twenty-first century had not heard of television? Not to mention spend tons of time watching it?

"Have you come back from the future, or… Past?" DiNozzo asked, chuckling at his own joke.

"What?" Ed said, voice slightly raised. Was he in a different time? It was possible Truth could send him into the future, but an alternate reality was more believable.

"Kid, it was a joke."

"I'M NOT A KID!"

There was a long silence until McGee decided to break the thin ice, "I think we should take him up on his offer."

Gibbs notably frowned, "McGee, since when do we bargain with witnesses?"

…

Edward sat in the interrogation room and stared at the mirror. Ed knew it wasn't a real mirror, it was one of those fancy one sided glass things. Gibbs and DiNozzo sat across from him, both were silent. They were observing him. He figured the other two agents, maybe the doctor guy too, was behind the glass. Ed rested his hands on the table and stared at the two agents.

"We gonna get started?" He said rather irritably.

Agent DiNozzo started the questions, "What's your name?"

"Edward Elric, but you can call me Ed."

"Where are you from?"

"Resembool."

"And where is Resembool?" Asked DiNozzo, unfamiliar with the town.

Edward was starting to get nervous. He didn't know how long he could keep things quiet. If he started explaining his situation these agents would surely misunderstand and think him crazy. Ed even found that fact that he traveled to a different world hard to grasp, and he had a background of alchemy. What would these guys think?

"A small country called Amestris," As soon as the Fullmetal Alchemist answered the question he could see doubt fill the eyes of the interviewers. They had never heard of such a country.

"Never heard of it," said DiNozzo. The agent turned to his boss, "Boss?"

Gibbs had also never heard of such a strange country. It had to be a developing one, or some small, separate state within a larger country. Gibbs glanced at DiNozzo, gesturing for the questioning to continue.

"Do you have parents we can call?"

Edward noticeable stiffened at this, "No."

"Why?"

"I don't have parents."

DiNozzo knew he should stop questioning on the topic but he knew something was wrong and the boy obviously didn't want to go into things.

"What happened?"

If it was possible Ed tensed even further. He could feel his muscles tightening, especially around his automail arm. A small shiver rushed through the boy but it was unnoticeable to the agents.

The agents didn't need the shiver to know something was wrong. The kid didn't want to talk about his parents, that was obvious, but there was some trauma or event that stemmed this.

After the moment of silence Ed finally answered the question, "My mother's dead, and my father left."

Edward's hands were fisted. It was obvious to the agents that the boy was furious with his father.

"Who's you legal guardian?"

"Don't really have on I guess… A childhood friend's grandmother took us in."

"Us?"

Edward's expression softened as he remembered his brother. They had finally done it, they had gotten Al's body back and now Edward was who knows where, "Al. He's my brother."

"So the grandmother is your legal guardian? What's her name?"

Ed sighed, "She isn't really a_ legal _guardian. I guess the military is now…"

"Military?" DiNozzo let out a surprised cry, why would the military have rights over a kid? Especially one this young?

This got Gibb's attention to the boy. What kind of country was he from to allow a kid this young into the military? This led Gibb's to the assumption of a small third-world, possible communist, country. He had never heard of such a country as Amestris, so a developing separating state would make sense. Yet if this was true how could the boy be in DC? Not to mention he held no particular hatred towards the military he mentioned.

"Were you forced to join?"

Edward's face lit with surprise, "No! I mean, I would get better resources if I joined…"

"What resources? For what?"

Before Edward could answer, or DiNozzo react, Gibbs was standing. The blue eyes boss noticed the red staining on white gloves. There was a small pool of blood gathering on the table beneath the kid's hand.

"I think we need that medical exam, _now_."

Edward sighed, this was not good.


	5. Automail

**Author's Note:**

_Warning: Contains spoiler from end of series._

_… _

Edward was unwillingly ushered back to the place in which he had woken. Ed still wasn't sure what the room was, just that it was cold and full of metallic furnishings. The elder man, Ducky, was standing over a still body as Edward was pushed into the room. Edward couldn't see much of the body, but he knew there was no pulse. He didn't get a better look at the corpse because of the insistent nagging of the agents. By now the whole team had followed him down here, curious about the injury.

Ziva had fired her gun in that alley. What if she did hit the kid? She knew she hit something but her aim was lower than that, what if she hit the kids arm? As soon as she saw the blood and Gibbs' reaction she knew something was amiss. She only hoped it wasn't a bullet wound in the kids arm.

"Ah, Jethro! You've brought our young Edward and your team, something the matter?" Asked the doctor, curious as to why there was a sudden crowd in the autopsy room. Ducky noticed the red spotting on the strange boy's gloves, the crimson a stark contrast to the brilliant white. "Lad, are you alright?"

Edward snapped out of his slight daze, "What? No, I'm fine! These here agents treat me like I'm fatally wounded or something, it's just a scratch!"

Due to the missing bolt Ed still couldn't move the arm well, and now something was causing him to bleed. These agents were nosy and would certainly want to know every juicy detail, but Ed wouldn't want to give them those. Yet, here he was. By this point Edward's choices were to run, in which he knew wouldn't work out and ruin whatever he had established, or to cooperate.

"Edward, with the amount of blood currently staining the glove, and the steady flowing, I would not say it was just a small scratch," replied the medical examiner, "Sit down lad," Ducky said, motioning to an empty autopsy table near.

Edward sighed and climbed on the table with slight difficulty due to the immobility of the limb. Edward reached to remove his gloves. Ed felt the world slow down, every feeling and emotion slowly subsiding and the world move in slow motion. He watched the intricate expressions cross the agents faces as he removed his gloves, then his red coat. The agents DiNozzo and McGee were the first to react. Simultaneously shock stained their faces, disbelief hinting their eyes. They were having doubts on what they were seeing. From this Edward could immediately conclude that automail was not something that existed here. Ziva's expressions were more subtle but still obvious to Edward. The Israeli woman showed the expected signs of shock but he could detect a slight amount of disgust, which was not uncommon. The agent did a good job of recovering herself though, trying to resume her normalcy but she was hiding something, guilt? The medical examiner Ducky showed more curiosity than anything, this surprised Edward. Edward could understand that, he was a doctor and to him this was a medical mystery. The stoic Gibbs was what confused Edward the most, well he was the only totally confusing factor. He kept a poker face the whole time, unflinching at the sudden reveal of the metallic limb.

In reality McGee could only think of how cool this was. Well obviously the metal arm was a shock at first, it wasn't an everyday sight, or any sight in general. The metal looked beat up and well used, but not rusted or bent out of shape. The arm only hung at his side, occasionally a finger might twitch but that was the only apparent movement.

Like McGee, DiNozzo was left in a state of utter shock but he wasn't thinking about how 'cool' the limb was. This kid, no more than sixteen, was missing his entire arm. Was he born that way? Some accident of sorts? The limb itself looked fine; the main problem was the massive bleeding at the shoulder. The whole scene looked like a scene from some sci-fi movie. DiNozzo was hoping at this point that he was in one. This kind of thing was unbelievable, but hey, science has been improving over the years. Maybe McGeek knew about something like this.

Ziva was shocked liked the rest of the team, but also disgusted. This boy, a kid, had lost his entire arm and replaced the limb with metal. Obviously he felt immense shame at the fact, but he didn't use it as a disability or debilitating factor. Instead he hid it, if the boy were to treat it as a sort of stigma than it must be one. Ziva realized the boy was staring at all of them, looking each of them over carefully. Ziva quickly tried to hide her shock and disgust but she knew the boy had seen it. Ziva's worry returned though, what if it was her bullet in the boys shoulder? If this was the bullet than did that make this situation her fault? No, it didn't look like a bullet wound. Then again she'd never seen such a metal thing, if it were the bullet did she do some unimaginable damage?

Ducky on the other hand was purely curious. The boy hand lost a whole limb, yet found a way to make it a perfectly functioning replica of metal. The arm itself was based on a muscular frame with bolts and wires here and there but what was interesting was the port at the shoulder. The port must connect with the nerves for it to function correctly. The port – The port! Ducky quickly snapped out of his thinking and started to work on the bleeding mess that was the nerve port.

Edward flinched at the sudden workings of the doctor. He was just glad he had something to take his mind off of the agents themselves.

"What. . . What is that?"

"What? Could you be more specific?" Edward said sarcastically.

"The metal," McGee replied.

Edward sighed, knowing he's have to explain it to the agents, "It's automail," this whole situation proved that automail didn't exist in this world, and nothing quite like it did.

"Automail?"

Looking towards Ziva, the asker of the question, Ed replied, "It's a metal prosthetic limb," motioning with his flesh arm Edward traced the air above the limb, "Obviously I don't have an arm so this is what replaces it. It connects with my nerves at the port in my shoulder," Edward winced as Ducky started examining the wound.

Ziva, McGee and DiNozzo looked baffled. They had heard of prosthetic limbs before but nothing like this.

"Ah ha!" Ducky said enthusiastically, finding the root of the problem, "Lad, there seems to be a bolt or metal piece lodged in your flesh. Part of the port has been misplaced and is causing a rupture. It looks as if the pieces itself was outgrown, and then just immediately refit, but refit wrongly."

Ziva let out a relieved breath, so it wasn't her bullet that had done what did happen to that shot? She was sure . . . doubt started to settler in, maybe Tony was right. She had just missed.

"My mechanic would never-" Ed responded, but realized what he was about to say. Winry would never let something like that happen, but he had been without his automail for a while before Truth and thrown it back on him. That bastard did a crap job on returning the automail!

"Is there anything you can do to fix it?" Ed asked apprehensively, hoping the doctor might have some knowledge on this, even if the chances were close to none it would be worth it.

Ducky thought a moment. This was a foreign technology to him, but the human body was not, "Edward, I cannot do much to remove the metal, it would take intensive surgery. What I can do is stop the bleeding and lessen the pain. I'm sure you're in a considerable amount of pain?"

DiNozzo patted the boy on the back, behind where the automail port was, "This kid insisted there was _no _pain! I'm sure he's fine!" DiNozzo had patted lightly, hoping for a small bit of annoyance from the boy.

Edward flinched and gritted his teeth, "Ha, this is nothing." Ed glared at DiNozzo, the behavior reminding him of a certain colonel.

DiNozzo glared back at the boy, something about the kid just annoyed him. The interactions were keeping him from thinking about the metal arm and all the mysteries surrounding the boy, in which DiNozzo , even if the kid annoyed him, it was a welcomed annoyance.

Gibb's cleared his throat, "Duck, what can ya do?"

"I can temporarily insert some soft medium between the metal and flesh, but it would have to be changed every couple of days. I can sew the artery temporarily to majorly stop the bleeding. There's not much I can do, the lad will need to see his own doctor for this one."

Ed grimaced at the word doctor, "I'll see my _mechanic, _thank you very much. She assaults me with a wrench rather than those damn needles doctors use." Edward subconsciously missed the word sew, not associating it with a needle itself.

"Assault with a wrench?" DiNozzo asked confused.

"Mechanic?" Asked Ziva, skipping over the part she thought had to be sarcasm.

"Uh yeah. My mechanic Winry does repairs and everything. She and Granny Pinako did the surgery to put this thing in," Ed replied, he was starting to find that explaining everything was tedious and too repetitive.

"Is this Granny the one mention earlier?"

Edward snorted, "The one you _interrogated _out of me? Yeah, that's her," pausing to think Edward added, "Agent David; Winry would take a liking to you. You're a lot like Hawkeye." Ed muttered the last part quieter, and then turned to DiNozzo, "She_ definitely_ would not like you."

"Sure, sure," DiNozzo replied sarcastically, and then jokingly added, "Oh you must_ like_ her or something?"

"Tony!" Ziva exclaimed.

Slightly taken back, Edward's cheeks became rosy, "Of course, we're-" Edward stopped mid-sentence. He couldn't say _married_, who would believe someone who looked the way he did to be married? Edward finally replied, "Of course not! She's a mechanic _otaku_!" Edward mentally apologized to Winry.

DiNozzo was chuckling while both Ziva and Edward gave him a stink eye.

Interrupting the moment Gibbs finally asked, "And how did this all happen?"

**Author's Note:**

_Since this story takes place after the Promise Day and post-manga, Edward and Winry are married. Considering Edward was de-aged by Truth, appearing as young as he is, being married is unbelievable for him now. Also, I am not a medical doctor, nor do I study medicine, so medically there could be some inconsistencies to what might actually happen in such situation. Since automail digging in your skin isn't a run of the mill thing, I had to guess medically what may happen. _


	6. Vein

Edward knew saying he commit the greatest sin wouldn't be an acceptable answer, nor would it clarify what had actually happened. Not that he wanted these strangers to know exactly what happened. So Edward decided to give the generic answer, "It happened during war." He said simply, as if over the matter.

"Which war?" Asked the Israeli agent, her interest piqued.

Edward nonchalantly waved his hand, "It was a small battle, you probably wouldn't have heard of it," Edward hoped that would end this line of conversation.

"As unheard of as your home town?" DiNozzo added.

"I told you it was a small town!"

"Lad, I think it would be best if I can finish up with your arm now," Ducky interrupted.

"Oh, right," Edward was relieved to be off from the sudden line of questioning. His arm still ached, but nothing he couldn't handle. He guessed it would be best if it was fixed.

Before starting Ducky took a good look at the strange piece of machinery on the young man, "It looks as if you're missing a sort of bolt here? It looks as if it's prohibiting your movement," Ducky said, motioning towards a small, but identifiable, space in which Edward knew well.

"Heh, knew that was causing problems but not immediate," Edward replied, wondering where that homeless man had gone to with his bolt.

Ducky sighed, "We might have to take the piece off. See, upon reexamination I found my original diagnosis could be off. We can give the prosthetic to Abigail and I bet she can find a correct bolt."

The alchemist held back a cringe. He didn't want his arm taken off, nor did he want a foreigner to mess with it. That wouldn't even be the worst part of it; they'd have to reconnect the nerves.

The process was simple, but still unwanted. Edward did as Ducky instructed and laid on the metal table. Agent DiNozzo was holding the boy down while Ducky removed the metal prosthetic from the port. Agent David was told by Gibbs to take the prosthetic to Abby.

As she did so, Ziva examined the arm in her hands. It was metal and well-shaped, anatomically correct. The arm weighed less than Ziva thought it might, but still bore weight. The piece itself was amazing, the craftsmanship astounding. Yet, for a magnificent technology that it was it was strange such a prosthetic was unheard of. Wouldn't such a medical advancement make some sort of news? Ziva did notice the missing bolt, as Ducky had pointed out. It looked to be important, it was in a central area that connected to many of the wires lacing up and down the piece. When Ziva got to the lab she was greeted with the loud, booming sound of Abby's music.

Ducky wrinkled his nose at the bloodied port on Edward's shoulder. Upon reexamination he noticed a small ruptured vein, likely in the current state because of sudden reattachment. What struck Ducky as strange about this reattachment was the fact that it wasn't reattachment of the arm, but the whole port itself. The notion itself made no sense, nor could the medical examiner think of a way to harmlessly remove the port without extensive medical attention. Ducky had noticed the extensive scarring around the port, too many scars for such a young boy.

"Edward, you'll need to take your shirt off for this," said Ducky. From the beginning Ducky had meant for the lad to take his shirt off for better examination, but the shock must have made him momentarily forget the thought. Edward had only taken off the strikingly red jacket leaving him in the black, loose, tank top.

The golden haired alchemist slowly took off the black shirt, closing his eyes in anticipation. They wouldn't react the way they did to the automail, but the scars covering his torso would still leave the remaining agents in question.

Small and large scars littered the boy's torso, barely an area untouched. This left the room in momentary shock.

The unveiling of the scars refuted the theory of a child soldier, if the sheer mention of the army wasn't enough. DiNozzo and McGee were taken back at the sight, how could a kid so young endure so much?

Ducky put his thoughts aside, he had work to do. The medical examiner found a large roll of gauze and pressed it gently onto the bleeding area. He pressed ever so harder, and continued to slowly do so. Ruptured veins should heal on their own, but the continuous pressing of metal aggravated the bleeding.

Ignoring the stares of agents DiNozzo and McGee, Edward addressed the doctor, "So what's wrong with it?"

Ducky sighed, "Well lad, it looks as if the metal in your arm ruptured a vein. What's strange is this veins has shifted from its original position, like there was a rapid shift in height or weight. What's also strange is it looks as if the port and arm have been simultaneously been reattached, which ruptured the vein."

Edward frowned, he couldn't tell if it was the sudden shrinkage or the automail that was causing the problem, only that those two factors were the fault of the same bastard.

"Can you fix him Duck?" Asked the blue eyed boss, not one sense of worry in his tone.

"Of course! It's simple really. These things usually heal on their own but you see, the connections to arm were too close to the vein, irritating it. All I have to do is stop the bleeding, Edward here should be fine. He only needs to keep the arm off for a while so the vein can heal. This normally wouldn't happen, well it looks like it normally wouldn't, but there's some unknown variable that caused it."

Edward sat up slowly as Ducky continued to hold the gauze on the bleeding shoulder, "So what now?" He asked both curiously and nervously, "And when will I get my arm back?" Edward asked with more resolve.

"How about you answer some questions first?" Replied the Gibbs, giving Edward a skeptical and curious glare.


	7. A Hug

As soon as gothic forensic scientist, Abby Sciuto, had gotten the metal prosthetic delivered to her, she started eagerly working on it. Of course she wouldn't harm or break the prosthetic during testing but she did want to test the metal alloy used. She assumed it would be steel, or a similar metallic alloy but wanted to be sure. Before she could test the metal itself she had to test the particles on the piece.

What she found interested her even more. The arm was covered in sweat, blood, dirt and dust, gunpowder, and other small trace evidence. Abby could only assume the blood was from the strange boy, but would need a blood sample from him to confirm. What on earth had this boy been doing?

Abby was definitely looking forward to meeting the boy with golden hair and eyes with the metal prosthetic.

. . .

"Isn't this blackmail?" asked Edward annoyed. Sure they were helping him with his injury, but questions in exchange for his _entire arm? _He had just gotten his real arm back until he was thrust here with his automail one, then these military goons take it away again.

"More like collective bargaining," piped DiNozzo. The young boy was covered in scars and had a particularly nasty one on his stomach which looked deep. The other scars were smaller and scattered around the boy's torso. How was it possible for a kid his age to have that many battle scars? He was what? Thirteen or fourteen? Whatever the age he was too young for military work and DiNozzo was too curious to give up on the truth, he could assume Gibbs was thinking close to the same thing.

"Give me the damn arm back first, then I _might _answer some questions." The Fullmetal Alchemist was irritated with this whole situation. He shouldn't even be here in the first place but Truth _had _to choose him to do the grunt work of whatever the hell was going on. Wasn't Truth some all powerful being? If that was true than Truth should be doing whatever the hell this work was himself.

"Even so, haven't I already answered _some _questions? You know, which lead you to insulting my home town?"

"Yeah, from a _nonexistent_ country," DiNozzo fired back.

"You want to know what I've told you? I've told you that I'm from Resembool in the country of Amestris, that I don't really have parents and stayed with Granny and Winry until I joined the military, _willingly. _Winry is my mechanic and Al is my brother. I lost my arm and leg as a casualty in war, nothing more than that," Edward said quickly, hoping to summarize enough so that further questioning wasn't needed.

"Arm _and leg_?" Gibb's caught in the rant.

Edward went pale, he had said he lost both his arm and leg hadn't he? He was used to saying the phrase including both appendages. The golden haired alchemist glared at the NCIS agent Gibbs, hatred lacing his golden eyes. Edward had indeed messed up but he had spoken quick enough that maybe the other agents and the medical examiner wouldn't catch the slip up but thanks to Gibbs said slip up was brought to light.

There was a pained look on Edwards face as he began to explain, "I didn't only lose my arm but also my leg. Both were taken by the war," Edward lifted his pant leg to reveal the metal prosthetic.

Gibbs didn't pay much attention to the reveal of the metal limb, but rather to the pause Edward had right before he said 'war.' It was like the boy had to think a moment about what he was going to say or like it was an old lie beginning to be retold again.

McGee and DiNozzo stood in awe at a metal prosthetic, again. What kind of childhood could this boy have had to leave him this scarred? The boy looked indifferent towards the limb itself, but more attention to how it actually was lost. It looked as if he was now used to the limb, even though it seemed recent.

Ducky, who still was stopping the bleeding at Edward's shoulder, took a peek at the metal. It seemed to be made identically to the arm, metal and structure wise but of course it was a different limb. What amazed the medical examiner was the intricacy and atomically correctness of the limb. It was a perfect recreation of a human limb, just made of metal and wires. That truly amazing part of the prosthetic was the never connections though. The never connections matched with the metal shouldn't be possible, such a thing was revolutionary in the medical field.

Ducky lifted the bloodied gauze from Edward's shoulder, "There you go lad. Just let wound close then you can reattach the arm. Well, if Jethro here allows it."

"I wouldn't need surgery or anything more?" Edward asked, eager to change the conversation but also surprised the wound didn't need more attention.

"No no. It's only a ruptured vein, it will heal on it's own. Just wait a day or two for it to close completely and it should be fine. Now if it started to bleed again when the arm is reattached then I'll have to perform surgery. That reminds me, there was a particularly interesting case in China-"

"Thanks Duck," said Gibbs, cutting off the story of the medical examiner.

"No problem Jethro."

Edward hopped off the autopsy table, momentarily losing balance as he landed he stumbled but was able to catch himself. This was the first time in a long time that he was without his arm.

DiNozzo's phone buzzed causing the room's attention to turn to the NCIS agent. After the short conversation DiNozzo announced, "Abby wants to meet the kid."

"I'M NOT A KID!"

"And?" Gibbs said expectantly.

"And she's got something," replied DiNozzo.

As DiNozzo and McGee lead Edward to the lab and out of the autopsy room, Ducky held Gibbs back a moment.

"Jethro, you should do a DNA testing. Just to see if such coloring is his natural coloring or not," said Ducky, doubting his original conclusion of hair dye and contacts.

"Was planning on it," replied Gibbs, who was indeed going to have Abby do a DNA test and analysis on the boy.

. . .

The music was almost deafening. The epicenter of the sound came from the lab doors ahead, the lab of one Abby Sciuto.

"What is _that_?"

"That's Abby."

Edward rolled his eyes as the two NCIS agents ushered him inside first. From the trip from the autopsy room to the lab Edward had put both his shirt and jacket on, feeling too naked and exposed. Not to mention cold, too freaking cold.

Upon entry the music quieted and Edward was ambushed by a dark looking female who he could only assume was the Abby that agent DiNozzo had mentioned. The gothic woman hugged the alchemist, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing him tight.

"Whaaa?" Edward was too shocked to do anything immediate.

This was going to be terrifying, and very interesting.


	8. Abby, Ziva, and a Bolt (again)

The Fullmetal Alchemist was stunned to say the least. I weird women dressed in all black, minus the striking white lab coat, was latched onto him. "Whaaa?" was the only thing he could utter. When the initial shock wore off Edward pushed the gothic scientist away.

"Who the hell are you?!"

"Abby Scuito, forensic scientist!" She replied happily, "Sit, sit! There is work to be done here!"

Abby ushered the young alchemist to a chair, trying to make him comfortable. The scientist knew that Gibbs would want a DNA test, it was something she could easily assume, knowing one Jethro Gibbs. Not only that, she wanted to examine the metal prosthetic compared to the port in his arm, such exciting technology!

Edward Elric looked around the room, it was filled with great metallic machines, each with small glittering lights. There were screens that held images, images that moved. He had never seen such technology, yet if these people were so advanced then why was automail and alchemy so new, and unheard of?

"We'll start with DNA," said Abby, directed towards Gibbs. Gibbs only nodded in response, quite interested in what the results could yield. Such bright eyes and hair wasn't natural, yet it didn't look fake, it was too fine to be dye or contact lenses. There was something about this kid that seemed otherworldly, and it wasn't just the looks or the metal limbs.

"DNA? What do you need that for?" Ed hissed, slightly unnerved about the possibilities. Edward didn't know what could be revealed about himself, or even if his chemical and genetic makeup would exist here. If it was the future he would have better luck, if this was an alternate universe then that would complicate things, as if they weren't complicated enough. Yet, Edward found himself sitting still, awaiting whatever to come. He knew that if he acted out now things would definitely worsen. The thought dawned on him, how do they even test DNA? Sure, the alchemist knew what DNA was and what it did, but how did one _test_ for it?

Abby smiled, "It can tell us more about you! Like where you're from, whether certain phenotypes are dominant or recessive, or if you're linked to a certain crime." Abby plunked a golden hair from his head and put it on a clear, rectangular piece of glass. A slide to examine the hair under a microscope.

"Do you have any blood?" She asked Gibbs.

"Of course I have blood! I'm not a freaking rock!" Replied Edward very annoyed, not getting the context of who the statement was directed to.

Abby chuckled, "I was talking to Gibbs."

"Why would _he _have _my_ blood?"

"To test your DNA." Gibbs replied simply, handing over bloody gauze leftover from stopping the bleeding wound.

"When did you get that you bastard?!"

"When your shoulder was gushing out blood, when else?" Gibbs rolled his eyes and gave Abby the still damp gauze. Gibbs wasn't happy with the boys injury, but he was glad for the opportunities created by the injury. He would never have been able to easily get the gauze from Ducky if the boy hadn't been injured.

"Speaking of blood, where's Ziva?"

"That's a strange association, Tony," sighed McGee, wondering how DiNozzo's mind functioned. Yet, he had a point, where had Ziva gone?

Abby, momentarily distracted with the new evidence, replied, "Oh I sent her out to see if she can find a similarly sized bolt," Abby gestured to the metal limb laying in a plastic bag labeled '_Evidence_.'

* * *

_How am I supposed to find a matching size if I do not even have the arm to look off of? _Ziva sighed, she had been to two different stores to try to find a matching size. The first store was just a convenience store, so no luck there. She didn't think it was very _convenient _if the store didn't even have what she needed. The second store was an actual hardware store but didn't carry that large of a bolt, or was sold out of that sized bolt. Ziva found herself at a different hardware store in a not so great neighborhood of DC. The area itself was run down, trash littering the streets and buildings foreclosed, looking unkept and like they could topple over at any moment. Ziva had only gone to this certain hardware store because it was the closest of all the other hardware stores. This type of neighborhood was one she would not feel safe in, if she was a normal civilian. Armed with a gun and military training easily out-gunned any fear she had, not that she had any.

She found a bolt, it was a copper color and more robust than the arm, but looked like it was big enough. There were two sizes larger which she picked up just in case, she also picked up to bolt sizes smaller. Ziva still wasn't sure any of these would fit, but she figured one size must fit, it had to.

Walking out of the sketchy store Ziva heard chatter in the ally to the left side of the store, it didn't sound like an argument, more like a _very _enthusiastic man. It sounded like he was trying to keep his excitement hidden but failing as he was practically yelling by this point.

"He actually _does it! _Man you would not _believe _it! It's like some sort of black magic or witch craft or somethin'!"

"How ya figure?"

"Ok ok, the dude claps his hand, like this-" there was a moment of silence and then a single clap, "then _bam! _Lightnin' or somethin' comes out from his hands, his hands!"

"Ya high or something? Ya sound like a crazy bastard."

"I ain't lyin'! He got like this whole followin' an' everythin'!"

"And this here following just watches him kill someone like that?"

That's when Ziva had heard enough, "NCIS!" She flashed her badge and both men burst off in a sprint. Rolling her eyes she though of Tony's line: _Why do they always run?_ She ran after the one who talked about 'lightning from the hands,' and the 'killing' part. The man was fast for a man with no muscle, he was a sad excuse for a stick figure. The man probably hadn't eaten in weeks, or so it looked. As he reached a dead end, Ziva closely behind, he turned around with his hands up.

"I ain't done nothin'!"

* * *

Abby had done the testing required for DNA and was just waiting for the results. DNA testing wasn't a quick process, it took time. She instead was occupying her time with the one and only Edward Elric. She had the metal prosthetic in her gloved hands, examining the connection to the port.

"Take off your coat!" She said finally, waiting eagerly to see the port itself.

Reluctantly Edward did so, he didn't exactly want to but being in this _lab _was better than being interrogated by these agents.

"Oooooohh! I see! This is amazing! You'll have to introduce me to whoever is responsible for this! This is awesome!" Abby flitted around the boy, examining the port at every angle, this was the only moment in which the prosthetic arm itself was out of her mind, and instead it was replaced with the thoughts and ideas regarding the port.

"Hmm, so it connects to your nerves?" Abby shivered, "That's _got _to be painful! You poor thing!"

"It's not that bad once you get used to it," replied Ed, lying to the overly emotional woman in front of him.

Abby could only feel bad for the kid. The particulates she had found on the prosthetic linked to battle and war. All the gunpowder, dirt, and blood…Abby could only assume the worst. Once she got positive identification factors in the blood she got from the gauze, she'd make sure to see if all that blood was actually his or not.

Gibbs, DiNozzo, and McGee watched the situation play out, each very amused with the awkward kid and Abby's very intrusive antics. In truth, all three were intensely curious about the boy and his situation.

Suddenly Gibbs phone buzzed,he could only assume it was one person.

"What is it?"

Edward immediately turned towards the strange noise and the unfamiliar technology. Was the boss talking to the foreign woman?

Gibbs quickly closed his phone, "Ziva's got something."

"Alright!" Cheered Abby, but returned to probing the alchemist.

"DiNozzo, McGee," said Gibbs.

"Right!" They both replied, following their boss out of the lab, going to join Ziva in whatever she had discovered.

"Hey! Gibbs! What about Edward here?"

"Keep him!"

Abby smiled and hugged the kid again, "I guess you're mine!"

Edward rolled his eyes and tried to escape the embrace.

* * *

A follower approached on shaky legs and an untrusting heart, not even fully devoted yet.

"What is it?" The man, sitting at the front on the church, boomed. He didn't like the fact a _fledgling _had approached him, only full devotees were allowed.

"J-jenkins, t-they got 'im," said the follower.

The man, who had charge over the church in shambles, stood, "What the HELL do you MEAN?!"

"S-some government woman! S-she sounded foreign… J-jenkins was tryin' to recruit w-when she 'eard 'im talkin'!"

The leader's expression hardened as he dragged his hands down his face, "And what are we going to do?"

The follower shrank back timidly, "Kill 'im, sir."


	9. Blood

The suspect was seated in one of the interrogation rooms, with Ziva behind the one-way glass. Ziva was very curious to see what would be disclosed in the course of his interrogation and how he was connected to the case, if at all. This man could just be sick in the brain. Yet, Ziva could tell that this man thoroughly believed what he had said before.

"What'd I miss?"

"We just got here Tony," Ziva sighed, slightly annoyed that she had to wait to interview the suspect.

"Got a name?"

"How can I get a name when I have not yet interrogated him?"

"Then go," Gibbs told Ziva, interrupting the conversation upon his arrival.

As Ziva entered the interrogation room, McGee entered the room on the other side of the glass. The three men watched as Ziva was starting the interrogation.

"What's your name?"

The man, who looked to be homeless replied, "I ain't talkin' lady."

"Oh, I see. So you have done something."

"No!" he almost yelled, "I ain't done nothin.'"

He was afraid, Ziva observed. The man looked like he was going to burst into tears, he was scared to the point of shivering. The man appeared homeless and starved, he could possibly be afraid of a shelter rejecting him after this incident or the man, the one who 'shoots lightening' might be the key to his fear.

"Do you want to tell me about the man?"

The suspect's eyes narrowed, "What man you talkin' 'bout? I met a lot of men in the course of my life."

Ziva leaned in close, whispering, "The man who shoots lightening."

He jumped back, "H-how you know 'bout that? Eh? You listened to our talk did ya?"

Ziva knew harsh interrogation techniques would not work on this man; the subtle and kind approach would best extract the needed information but that could only go on for so long.

"Yes," she replied simply, waiting for his reaction.

"T-they, they're gonna kill me! They're gonna kill me now!" The suspect started to freak out, grabbing his head and pressing it down to the table, repeating the same phrase over and over.

"Who? Who is?" Ziva tried to press, "You are in NCIS custody, we can protect you."

At that the man only laughed, "You can't protect from him, he has magic. Magic! All those killin's? Same wounds and stuff? That him! And ain't nobody caught him yet!"

. . .

Edward looked around the lab; he was still amazed about how much technology had advanced, and what it could do. Such things didn't exist where he came from, but he couldn't let anyone know. That he knew, they'd call him insane, crazy.

Abby was now starting her blood analysis on Edward. Blood typing was the easy part, just a drop of antigen-A here, a drop of antigen-B there, and a final drop of the Rh Factor. She watched as the blood clotted, and scribbled down the boy's blood type.

"What are you doing?" Asked Edward, watching samples of the blood start to clot.

"Testing for your blood type," replied Abby, before taking a small sip of her Caff-Pow.

"Blood type?"

Abby looked at the boy in bizarre amazement, but blood types weren't a topic most people were associated with. Unless you were a scientist of course!

"Well there are certain proteins and enzymes and such that latch onto your red blood cells. A very old scientist fellows, Landsteiner and Weiner, created the system we use today. See, if you have type A blood then it would clot when mixed with A-antigen, if you have type B blood then it would clot with B-antigen. The Rh Factor is what determines positive or negative blood types. If you have positive blood then it would clot, if you have negative blood then your blood wouldn't clot when mixed with the Rh Factor. See, there are many other smaller factors you can also test for but the three I just mentioned are the easiest."

Edward watched the blood, _his _blood, start to clot. It was simple science in this time but for him it was amazing. This was all possible without the help of alchemy. Yet, why would one need to know a blood type? What was the purpose of it?

"Why would you need to do that?"

Abby looked at him, acting wounded, "It's important! Like, for example, just a simple test for identification purposes. I can use your type blood and see if it matches the traces on your automail arm. If it's not even the same type then I can move on to a different sample but if it is-"

"It is," Edward stated flatly, no use in leading the poor women on.

Abby suddenly felt bad for the kid, well she already did. She got another urge to hug the boy but her instincts told her that Ed wouldn't welcome it.

"Well also, blood can be used for transfusions. See, only certain blood type can give, or receive certain blood types. Way back in the past, we scientists and doctors, thought that so many people died during operations because of certain blood types clashing in transfusions. Same thing with wars that happened in those periods, more died trying to be saved," Abby, feeling the sudden sadness emanating from the golden haired boy, tried to lighten the conversation.

"Well that kind of thing is a thing of the past! Now, since I know that blood type I can move on to your DNA," Abby grabbed some of the control sample and started working on getting DNA. Edward watched in curiosity, still amazed at how much science had advanced.

. . .

"Who is he?" Ziva pressed, wondering who the 'magic man' was.

"He ain't nobody, he come from another world! There're a ton of 'em all, ya know? His followers I mean. He run a church of 'em, they got full devotees and them fledglings," he said, starting to open up.

"Where is the church?"

"Heh heh, like I'd tell ya. You ain't done nothin' too impressive yet lady. They gonna get me, might as well make things harder for ya," he was mocking her, and he liked it. The man, a follower and by no means a leader, liked his moments of empowerment.

"What is your name?" Ziva asked again, harshness sneaking into her tone.

"I guess if I'm gonna die ya should call me somethin' and tell me family and stuff. They call me Jenkins, nothin' more or nothin' less," Jenkins smiled a toothy, sarcastic grin yielding his yellowed and slightly blackened teeth. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, "An' what's your name, lady?"

"Agent David," Ziva replied curtly, "Who is this man you follow?"

"Follow? Follow? Nuh uh! Serve, lady. We serve him. He a God!"

"A God?" Ziva spat, unbelieving.

"He can do things! Like move the earth to his whim! Ya seen the crime scenes right? Yeah, if ya look close the earth is warped, unnatural. Like it's been put back in place. Ya seen the wounds? Starts large at the front then it slims down real small?Right through the center of the heart? But it too fine to been anything that small or it'd break! Ya see?! He a God!"

Ziva rolled her eyes, but was astonished on how the man knew in depth details on the causes of death. The thing she found most curious was the way he talked about the scene itself, how he mentioned the earth being unnatural. Ziva made a mental note to check the crime scene photos.

The interrogation room door swung open and Gibbs stood in the door way, "You're free to go."

"What? No! I want protection! This here lady said I could have it!"

"That was if you cooperated," Ziva replied.

"You ain't never said that!"

Ziva watched as he was escorted out by security, he looked genuinely scared like he had been at the start of the interrogation.

"We will follow?" Asked Ziva, knowing what her boss was thinking. They would see where the man went, and hopefully that would be back to the church he mentioned.

Gibbs nodded slightly, meaning the obvious yes.

. . .

Abby held the DNA results in her hands, a confused and curious look across her face.

"Hey, Ed," she started, but realized he was asleep on the chair, his flesh arm rested peacefully on his exposed stomach.

Abby stared at the results; this was interesting and definitely not normal.

. . .

Edward was dreaming happily, mainly about Winry and being tall, until the familiar tiny dark hands stole him.

"Eh? EH?!" He yelled, rather annoyed that his dream was interrupted. Wintry, her beautiful body and joyful face disappeared into whiteness, and Ed's body shrank to its child-like self. Edward clawed at nothing as the nightmare continued, and he was taken into the large, everlasting darkness held behind the ornate doors.

When Edward finally came to, again, he faced a very familiar face, or lack of one.

"What the hell?! What the hell do you want now you bastard?!"

"Al~chem~ist! Always a pleasure~!" The figure spoke with joy, happy to see his favorite alchemist back, back for a great surprise.

"What do you want?" Ed growled, starring at the figure who had two of Edward's limbs.

"Well~ I have a surprise!"

"I don't want it."

"Dear al~chem~ist! There is no choice! You aren't getting the job done…so I'll send you some help!"

"Don't. You. Dare." Edward yelled. His first thought was of Al, Truth wouldn't send his brother, would he? He couldn't let Al go through this, whatever this was.

"Don't worry, this'll be fun, even if it is your dear brother!"

"DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE."

. . .

**Author's Note:**

_Well, not as long as I wanted the chapter to be but it's up! I'm not a forensic scientist so the blood typing part may be slightly off… I get the testing confused between antigens and the antibodies. Also, not quite sure of Edward's blood type so I didn't really specify, or go into it. Though can anyone guess, with what I supplied, what blood type Ed could NOT have? (Includes type [A,B,AB,O] and positive or negative). Just a bit of forensic science trivia, specifically serology trivia, in honor of Abby! Anyways~ a new FMA:B world character? Hint: someone with alchemy, and may or may not be Al. _


	10. Another One (Bites the Dust)

When Abby first heard the muffled cries of the golden haired boy in her care, she immediately ran to Edward. She had let the boy sleep in the back part of her lab, more of an office like space. Abby always kept a pillow and blanket back there, along with a certain stuffed hippo that made a certain noise when pressure was applied. Edward was sprawled out on the floor, mumbling strange and incomprehensible things in his sleep.

"Ed! Edward!" Abby was gently shaking him, her hands firm on his shoulders.

Suddenly the alchemist's eyes flew open, his golden eyes meeting Abby's. Edward's hard, pained expression made the forensic scientist worried, causing her to momentarily forget the DNA results she had gotten. Abby assumed the kid had dreamed of his past, a battle filled mystery but she couldn't be sure.

"Are you alright?" Abby asked the silent boy, who only looked straight at the wall in front of him.

"Yeah, fine as I'll ever be," Edward grumbled picking himself off of the floor.

. . .

Jenkins thought he was a clever man. He knew NCIS was going to follow him, he knew it would be the crazy Israeli lady too and the geezer was a hit or miss. Jenkins knew he was going to die, but he wanted to go out important whether it be helping the good guys, or in aiding the other side. Now, Jenkins was a sore loser and only wanted to be a winner, that being so, his situation didn't look even the tiniest bit close to optimal. He thought that the church would bring the world salvation and that this new power of his new Lord would bring unto the world chaos. Chaos was not a good thing, Jenkins was smart enough to know that, but being on the side of a winner for once made the difference. But since it looked like he was going down either way, better to make a blow to the church. They were going to kill him, why not get revenge before his death?

Jenkins was never a full devotee like the church thought he was, oh no he wasn't. They all thought he was, he tricked 'em good. Being the poor man he was, mixed in with the narcissism and extreme urge to win, Jenkins thought it best to hang in the church. The church fed him, clothed him, and made him the promise that when this world belonged to the new Lord, he would be saved. He would be spared.

The agents were following him by foot, not the smartest idea but it was the only way. Jenkins didn't have a car, or any money for a taxi. So, he would just have to walk. The agents did a decent job of following him, he had to admit. They were far enough away to ease any suspicion but still close enough to see him and get to any quick turns.

The church was about two or three blocks away, but from this point on it was quicker to get there via the back allies and smaller side streets. Jenkins was slightly curious as to –

Jenkins, caught mid thought, suddenly felt a jolt of pain. His heart shattered and beat wildly in pain, but that made the fiery pain even worse. Jenkins feet were no longer placed securely on the ground and his head rolled and slowly fell. His moments of death were quick, too sudden for the man to even get a single scream out.

. . .

Their Lord and Savior dirtied their hands for them. They were ashamed. He killed the deceiver, the liar, and Satanic being that had controlled their dear and loyal friend. Jenkins was a friend no longer. He was the betrayer, the traitor. Their Lord thankfully used his wondrous powers for good and pierced the betrayer's heart.

Our Lord risked himself for our sake. He killed the betrayer from a distance, but still near the fiendish government agents, who turned Jenkins against us. What devilish tricks do they play to turn a loyal man into a deceiver and traitor? None of us should find out, for we shall end ourselves if need be.

. . .

When Ziva and Gibbs arrived at the scene they were rendered speechless. Their once alive victim hung from the deformed earth that pierced his heart, like the other victims. The only difference being the murder weapon was still intact. How could one consider molded earth a weapon? The ground had come up like a spike towards Jenkins, the tip slightly penetrating his back but the multitude on the injury was the large wound to the chest, and the ever shrinking point slicing through the man's heart. There must have been an incredible force to get Jenkins off the ground and to even get the earth-made weapon through the man.

Jenkins was already paling; his eyes were losing the dulled light he still had. Blood still flowed causing his torn and tattered clothes to be stained crimson. His eyes were wide in fright, staring vacantly forward not expecting of his sudden death. Blood slowly dripped from the corner of his mouth then stopped. Slowly the bleeding subsided as Ziva and Gibbs stood in shock.

"We were-"

"Call Duck,"

"Yes boss,"

. . .

Abby was pacing around the lab; she wasn't sure what to do with the blood and DNA results. It felt rude to go and tell everyone without Edward's consent, yet everyone did need to know! She glanced at Edward who sat patiently and had a very annoyed look. He also looked worried; something about his dream really had him on edge.

Edward jumped suddenly, shocked at the noise of the phone ringing. To his behalf, the phones ringer was up absurdly loud. Abby had made sure it was up to par with her standards of noise.

"Hello?"

"Oh Abby dear! Apparently Jethro and Ziva have found Jenkins again, except he's suddenly passed. The murder weapon is apparently very strange and not very portable so would you like to join me at the crime scene?"

This peaked Abby's interest. The wounds were in strange shape, and close to impossible to actually form, like the laws of physics didn't apply.

"Of course! Of course! Hmm… wait! What about Edward? I can't just leave him here!"

"I'm sure Jethro wouldn't mind an extra pair of eyes?"

. . .

Abby and Edward were designated to DiNozzo and McGee's car while Ducky of course was with Palmer. Edward was silent the whole car ride, constantly staring out the window. To the NCIS agents it looked as if Edward had never seen such a landscape, such a city. Edward was almost like a blast from the past, he wasn't familiar with technology or the natural cityscapes. Ed was definitely a strange one.

DiNozzo and McGee chattered in the front seat while Abby was curiously quiet. A murder weapon that couldn't be transported? Was it a cemented to the ground or something? Was it a building? Did the man commit suicide? Abby sighed, her attention still grasping the moral conflicts of revealing Edward's DNA and blood results. Not only did the results not make any sense, but she had ran the tests more than once after the initial results while Ed had slept. The results were one hundred percent true. On any other case she'd have no problem revealing the results, but Ed was a child. He was young, and baffled in this new environment. Abby knew the boy had probably gone through Hell and back, and that was just assumed from the previous tests. It was a moral dilemma, and Abby knew Edward didn't want the test nor for the results to be revealed.

Finally the car stopped. Abby recognized this part of the city, it was not the neighborhood to be in at night. The buildings were old, the windows broken and stained with dirt. The roads were smaller and narrower, mostly consisting of the backstreets and alleyways. It was the same type of neighborhoods that they had found all the previous victims for this case. The backstreet was empty except for the occasional rat or mouse digging around in the trash. The buildings facing the major street on the other hand was busy with action. Abby mentally made note of the stark contrasts in the distribution of the populace.

"Over here!" Ziva yelled, poking her head out from a hidden alley.

"Huh, these streets are too hard to navigate," DiNozzo sighed.

"Where's Ducky?" Ziva asked as the rest of her team, plus Edward, joined her.

"Late, probably gotten himself lost."

Abby gasped when she first saw the body. It was a mere two steps and a turn to get to the crime scene. The quickness of the arrival and the sudden display of the scene caused Abby to momentarily lose her composure.

"H-how?"

"That's what you'll figure out," DiNozzo said, patting her on the back. DiNozzo was aware of Abby's sudden discomfort, he couldn't blame her. The scene was shocking. Blood pooled at the victim's feet, and dried blood stained in a downward drip to the group. Abby immediately found crime scene gloves, as to not contaminate the evidence, and kneeled on the ground. She started examining the strange formation the earth warped into. What could make the group they stood on twist and turn into a murder weapon?

Edward, upon seeing the scene, cursed to himself. There was a good chance this was what Truth had sent him here to do. This had alchemy written all over it. With what he knew about the technology of this world he knew there was most likely not an explainable reason for this. It had to be alchemy.

If Edward could he would leave. He now had a lead as to why he was here in this strange place, Truth didn't want this culprit with alchemy here, in a world where alchemy doesn't exist. Edward knew he couldn't leave these agents, he still didn't have his arm back.

"Jethro! This place was impossible to find!" sighed Ducky who had just arrived. "Oh my." Ducky immediately found his way to the body and stated to examine the corpse. The body was still warm, expected since the victim was recently deceased.

"Time of Death-"

"We know." Since Gibbs had been at the scene moments after Jenkins death.

"Well, I can assume the same . . . weapon . . . was used on the other victims. The size, shape, and force all are seeming to match our previous victims."

Edward was sure now. There was a killer in this world using alchemy to slay his victims.

. . .

Truth had an interesting dilemma on _its_ hands, or lack thereof. Three images, three alchemists, appeared before _it_. The younger brother of the Fullmetal Alchemist, now grown and with a body, appeared in the first image. Truth shook _its_ head, this alchemist would not be of any use to him, and it would only be fun to see the Fullmetal Alchemist in blinding rage. Not to mention Truth didn't necessarily want to figure at a toll for this one.

One Izumi Curtis appeared in the center image. She would be interesting, but that motherly instinct wouldn't do. Truth would love to see the situations this woman would get into in this new world. Izumi was strong, but old. Her toll would likewise be a trouble.

The last image held the Colonel, no, Brigadier-General Roy Mustang. He was a strong man, but would be of equal or more trouble than Edward. Truth looked at the dark haired man with curiosity,_ it_ had taken his eyes. Now, he would be an interesting candidate wouldn't he?

. . .

"L-Lord, he is dead now! Now w-what should we do?"

One dared to speak. The follower spoke of the government and their investigation.

"They know nothing of my power, so they shall perish by it."

. . .

**Author's Note:**

_Sorry for the (extremely) late chapter! Things have been busy with school and such. I tried to post the chapter earlier today, while at school, but the school wifi blocks FanFic... Anyways, thus here is the chapter! I know which character will be brought in, kudos if you figure it out (it's not too hard though). The only dilemma is portraying the character right in the upcoming chapter. _


End file.
